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Kill the Watchman

Who watches the watchman is the question of the hour. Not many know the answer and fewer give it much thought. This is an important question to ask in a civilized society that has democratic values. If those who watch over us are not held to account then the line between democracy and oligarchy become blurred.

Institutions that depend upon the public trust prefer opaqueness because it provides them great freedom to operate without bothersome rules. Whether the institution is public or private; the watchman in American society have gotten used to having great latitude. The rules that they function under were formed in an autocratic way due to a deference from the masses. This happened because democratic rule requires education and an uneducated electorate is easier to fool.

Complexity is the most favored method of mass deception. For the general public, having busy lives means that the masses have no time for critical analysis. Most sources of information are digested in tiny soundbites and we have got used to this form of consumption. The deleterious result of this phenomena is that little thinking is required it is the equivalent of spoon feeding a baby. And we wonder why we have the system that we have grown to hate.

By killing the watchman those that are in power have prospered. He was found lying bleeding on the street and everyone walked by as he bled. It was the neglect of the people that was the real cause of death. We were distracted and focused our anger on him; from hero to villain. Without proper checks society has let the powerful get more power. An intractable problem that will not be ameliorated anytime soon.